Maersk begins its port operations at Ennore (Kamarajar port), Tamil Nadu offering connectivity between the Far-East Asian ports of Tanjung Pelepas (Malaysia), Busan (South Korea) and Xingang (China) and the Indian ports of Chennai, Krishnapatnam & Visakhapatnam.
The company also celebrated the first maiden call for its existing ‘Chennai Express’ service at the new container terminal in Ennore Port which is about 15 miles north of Chennai.
“The rising global trade from and to India is leading to congestion and moving to new ports that offer quicker turnaround and better services is crucial. Port Ennore has the potential to be the new gateway to South India and Maersk is geared up to support our customers move their cargo to and from anywhere in the world. Moreover, we can also help our customers with intermodal transport options for end to end connectivity across the region backed by our fleet of trucks and train facilities.” said Mr Steve Felder, Managing Director – India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives on the occasion.
With a total capacity of 800,000 TEUs offers congestion free approach roads that provides greater ease of doing business such as faster turnaround times by up to 24 hours, pro-active cargo updates and lower local transportation costs to customers. It has a permissible draught of 15m and handles export/ import of automobiles, temperature-controlled cargo, heavy machinery and equipment units.
Speaking at the event, Capt. Sandeep Mehta, President, Adani Ports and SEZ, welcomed Maersk Line to Ennore and expressed hope that this would be the beginning of a long-term collaborative partnership between the world’s biggest container carrier (Maersk Line) and India’s largest private port operator (Adani Ports and SEZ).
“The additional port capacity and word class infrastructure offered by Ennore will translate into Supply Chain benefits for end consumers, exporters and importers, in terms of reduced costs, shorter transit times and faster turnaround cycles. This in turn will positively bring goodness of prosperity and development in the vicinity of the port of Ennore, which is the new gateway to growth in the State of Tamil Nadu” he added.
With the latest state-of-the-art infrastructure, including radio-frequency identification technology-enabled gate operations, the Ennore port promises seamless supply chain with high productivity rates that have been a major concern for shippers and ship operators in the region.
In addition to no commodity restrictions at Ennore, Maersk is also providing its pioneering Remote-Control management (RCM) technology, end-to-end supply chain solution like Store Door, e-payment feature SmartPay, Reefer expertise and Trade Finance options to the customers.
The East bound cargo from Ennore takes 24 days to reach Busan, South Korea while the west bound from Qingdao takes 21 days to reach Ennore.
